The ground-breaking Tapeta era dawned Sept. 30 at Gulfstream Park, where four races were contested over the newly installed all-weather surface on opening day of the Florida track's Fall Meet.
Kathleen O'Connell, the second-winningest female trainer in history, notched win No. 2,279 after saddling Emoji Guy for a victory in race 1, Gulfstream's first Tapeta race.
Due to the closure of Gulfstream Park West, Gulfstream Park is scheduled to conduct racing year-round, prompting the construction of the Tapeta track, which is positioned between the grass course on the inside and the dirt main track on the outside at Gulfstream. The new surface will provide a measure of relief to the turf course while offering a varied racing program for horses of all abilities. Gulfstream has become the first North American racetrack with dirt, turf, and all-weather surfaces.
"It means a lot," O'Connell said. "I'm happy for the owners. They've waited for a long time. I just texted them, 'It's a new track record.' Of course, it was the first race run on it."
J S Stables' Emoji Guy, the 9-5 favorite for the $12,500 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up at about 1 1/16 miles, was timed in 1:48.08 in his all-weather debut under Edwin Gonzalez. Emoji Guy is a gelded son of leading Florida sire Khozan .
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"He was good and comfortable. The horse really liked it," said Gonzalez, who has ridden on all-weather tracks at Golden Gate Fields, Presque Isle Downs, and Arlington International Racecourse. "You have to ride it like the turf. I wanted to make one move, and I was pretty happy where he was."
Gonzalez, who made a three-wide sweep to the lead on the far turn aboard Emoji Guy, expressed his satisfaction with the going on the Tapeta track and his belief that the surface will become tighter as time goes by.
"It's good. I have to tell you, they did a really good job. Right now, it's good, and when the tractors start working it more, it's going to be better," the jockey said.
A $60,000 maiden special weight for juvenile fillies at about 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta was featured on Thursday's program. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Strategy Queen, who had shown promise in two starts on dirt, broke through with a deep-closing triumph under Cristian Torres in the race 5 feature.
"Her dad won three times on it. Her sister won on it and her other sister won on turf. We put a horse on it we thought would like it," Joseph said. "Cristian said, at first, she was a little green, but there was no kick-back and she was able to maintain her position. One of the things about Tapeta is you don't get dirt in your face. I think that's why some turf horses run on it better than they do on dirt."
The daughter of Fed Biz had finished second in her most recent start after dueling from the start of the six-furlong $50,000 maiden claimer.
Wow Tapit, a daughter of Cairo Prince who finished third in her second career start in a recent off-the-turf sprint, took to the Tapeta to graduate in race 3, an about 5 1/2-furlong maiden race for juvenile fillies. The Amador Sanchez-trained filly led throughout to score by 3 1/2 lengths under Hector Berrios.
Monarch Stables' Light Fury transferred his winning form on turf to the Tapeta in race 7, an about-a-mile-and-70-yard optional claiming allowance. The Ron Spatz-trained son of Wicked Strong, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Samy Camacho, chased Vow Me Now into the stretch before taking the lead and holding on to win by a half-length. Light Fury was winless in eight starts on dirt before winning five times and finishing in the money nine times in 10 races on turf.
Five races will be run on the Tapeta track on Friday's nine-race program that will get underway at 12:50 p.m. ET. Four races will be on dirt.
